The Orioles are adjusting their bullpen once again. Right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis has returned to the team and right-hander Alec Asher has been optioned back to Triple-A Norfolk. Asher will pitch as a starter for the Tides. The 25-year-old Yacabonis was with the Orioles briefly last month. His contract was purchased and he was added to the 25-man and 40-man rosters on June 11. He got into three games before being optioned back to Norfolk on June 15 after the game. He posted a 10.80 ERA in those...

The Rays have not swept three from the Orioles in Baltimore since May 17-19, 2013. After their comeback win Friday and blowout win Saturday, the Rays can sweep the Orioles today. Even if the Orioles get the victory, they are going to hit the season's 81-game midpoint today with a losing record. They are 39-41 heading into this series finale and Tampa Bay is 43-40. The Orioles were a strike away from a win Friday that would have moved them into third place ahead of the Rays, but now they trail...

ST. LOUIS - The focus of Saturday night's 2-1 loss to the Cardinals wound up being the final at-bat of the game, when Adrian Sanchez was rung up by Manny Gonzalez on a 3-2 pitch outside the strike zone to strand the bases loaded. But there's more worth dissecting from the game, so let's take a look back at some other developments ... * Gio Gonzalez pitched the best game of his season. Which is saying something, given how well the left-hander has pitched all season. Gonzalez was as sharp as...

ST. LOUIS - Throughout a childhood spent learning the game in Venezuela, throughout a decade in the minors that included lengthy stops at every level of the Nationals farm system, throughout the better part of his first two nights as a major leaguer, Adrian Sanchez had ample time to think about the first at-bat of his career. Maybe it would come in a blowout. Maybe he'd actually get a chance to start a game. Maybe he'd be summoned to bat with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth inning...

It has gotten this bad for the Orioles rotation. The one pitcher that could almost always be counted on is now struggling himself. Just 6 2/3 innings short of his 2016 season total now, Dylan Bundy allowed a season-high three homers in yesterday's 10-3 loss to Tampa Bay. Bundy gave up a trio of homers of over 400 feet each to tie his career high as he allowed five runs over four innings. He beat the Rays a week ago yesterday allowing three runs over seven innings at Tropicana Field. But this...

ST. LOUIS - The Nationals, owners of the majors' most productive lineup throughout the first half of the season, haven't exactly played the part so far this weekend. Held to one run in Friday night's blowout loss to the Cardinals, the Nationals did it again tonight. They avoided their first shutout of 2017 thanks to a two-out rally in the ninth, but they couldn't complete that rally and wound up wasting Gio Gonzalez's stellar start in a 2-1 loss at Busch Stadium. Gonzalez was brilliant,...

The Orioles will find out tonight how many of their players are headed to the All-Star Game in Miami. Or at least they can talk about it publicly, with the news embargoed until after 7 p.m. They already know that they won't have any starters. There wasn't much drama in the voting, with third baseman Manny Machado and catcher Welington Castillo losing ground each week among the top five at their respective positions. Adam Jones fell out of the top 15 in outfield voting. Second baseman Jonathan...

Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy gave up a season high in homers while also recording his shortest start of 2017. It was not a good combination for him or the Orioles today. Pitching on six day's rest, Bundy allowed seven hits and five runs over four frames, as the Rays hammered the Orioles 10-3 at Camden Yards. When this series began, the Orioles were 10-3 at home versus the Rays since the start of last season. Now they've dropped the first two in this series. On Sunday, the Rays go for...

The Orioles viewed last night's brutal 10-inning loss as just one game and vowed to move on from it. They won a few this season when the opposition also wondered what the heck happened. There isn't much time to dwell on it. Regroup and embrace a new day. Just try not to fall behind by three runs in the first inning and surrender four homers by the fifth. It's an important component of the theory. Embracing the day is much trickier when it's covered in thorns. Dylan Bundy was down 3-0 just...

ST. LOUIS - Gio Gonzalez is doing his part to put the Nationals in position to win (and perhaps earn himself a spot in the All-Star Game). But Michael Wacha is up to his usual tricks against the Nats, leaving Gonzalez in danger of yet another hard-luck loss. Wacha has tossed five scoreless innings to begin tonight's game at Busch Stadium, the Nationals having managed only three hits so far (none of them strung together). Anthony Rendon's double in the second and single in the fifth, and...